Sister Anderson Mission Blog: Cimi Cicione

I'm in love. I'm in love. I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!

Cimiano is the best! But before I get going on that rant, I will tell you about my last night in Muggiò.

Wednesday night we cancelled English class and instead went to see Juana and Claudio. It's always so good to see them. We had dinner with them and they made this huge seafood dinner. It was crazy. Included in this dinner were muscles and oysters. I ate both! Sorella Orr and I both tried an oyster which included choking it down. We gagged and it was pretty hard to swallow it. We had a good time laughing about it. It was really hard to say goodbye to them. They're an amazing family. I know that Sorella Orr and Smedley will continue to do a great job for them and will be there to help them through everything.

So on Thursday I arrived in Cimiano and that was exhausting. Then we headed to the church for English class. This English class was so funny and I was dying. The people just really make it fun.

Friday we had a lesson with Giuseppe and Rosella. Giuseppe is an investigator and his wife was baptized a couple years ago. I had already met them from a scambio from before but they remembered me! I was happy that this time they knew I was here to stay. To get to their house though it's pretty much in my last area. It's crazy being so close to Muggiò.

On Saturday I met Aydee and Fanny. We have lunch with them every Saturday. They are from Venezuela and speak a mixture of Spanish and Italian. But they know how to cook! They fed us so much! And then we met with the family Guastella. They are so amazing! They are a less active family. They have not stepped a foot in church for 6 years and have been through some very hard things but they came to church and we were able to set a baptismal date for the daughter. Her name is Rachele and is 11 years old. When they came to church they were so excited about the baptism and were telling everyone. It's such a big step for their family and it's helping them all move forward so much. Rachele is just awesome and super sensitive to the spirit too.

On Monday we had consiglio for the mission. It was my first one and so all the zone leaders get together. There are trainings, we ask questions about the mission, and we set goals. It was good to see Sorella Perkins from the Sorellanza and all of the other people that I know.

So this week someone threw up on the metro and it was so disgusting! It smelt so bad and everyone was just cramming to get as far away as they could from it. Well except for the old people. They were just so stoked to have their seats that they just kept sitting there... right next to the puke. Never mind that they're gagging into their scarves!!

I'm running low on time but the rest of the week was good. We pulled a prank on everyone during district meeting telling them that the Rome and Milan missions were combining. We got them pretty good haha. It was a good PDay. We went to the duomo with Sorella Orr and Smedley.

This week I was reading my scriptures (nothing new there) but as I was reading I was just thinking about how Christ is the center of literally everything we teach as missionaries: the Gospel, the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation, commandments, everything. We cannot do anything without Him. From the beginning from the end He will always be by our side. And I am so grateful that He was willing to do that for me and more than anything it makes me want to be willing to do a lot more for Him.

I know my thoughts are kind of all over the place but I'm just loving life and trying to get settled here in Cimiano.

Love you all!

Sorella Smedley, Sorella Orr and Sorella Williams